Chapter 13: 6 Months
< 6 Months has passed >
Half a year since the inception of the Merchant's Guild and the Healers guild, Verdant Vale had witnessed an unprecedented growth spurt. The once fledgling kingdom was now a bustling hub of trade and commerce, with merchants from far and wide dotting the marketplace. Its treasury was overflowing.
The citizens, once merely subjects, were now active contributors to the kingdom's prosperity. They were healthier and more educated, their faces reflecting the contentment brought about by their improving quality of life.
The kingdom's skyline, too, reflected this prosperity, with new structures sprouting up among the landscape. Verdant Vale was no longer just a shabby castle kingdom and one of great proportion better and bigger than ever. The architecture was impressive and mighty, to be expected from the system products. The buildings gave off a feeling of mystery.
Ethan woke up from his cultivation and was inexplicably overjoyed as finally after a long and tiresome cultivation session he finally advanced to a 2nd stage apprentice knight. He summoned his status.
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Status
Name: Ethan Darkwood
Level: 2nd –Stage Apprentice Knight
Equipment: None
Breathing technique: Celestial Life
Money: 50 000 Gold
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Kingdom Status
Kingdom Ranking: 6th-Tier
Military Strength: Conditions not met
Conditions not met
Unable to level up
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<Mall >
<Inventory >
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Looking at the amount of money he had, he was dumbstruck, unable to figure out why they had so much money. He didn't go out his chamber the last few months except for a few times and every time he went out, he spent money. For example, he bought blueprints for blacksmith shops and alchemy pavilions as well as beast tamers, he bought their corresponding techniques to us, everyone the highest quality he could afford- Top rank inferior grade techniques. He bought the techniques to nurture their own tamers, alchemists and blacksmiths. He wanted his kingdom to be self-sustainable.
Not only techniques and blueprints but more crops and livestock were bought not inferior to the moongazing cows and golden wheat grain. Each product from the system was top grade items.
He wanted the blacksmiths to start forging armor for the knight legions he wanted to form. Namely,
The Dawnbringers: A group of knights who follow a strict code of honor and chivalry, they are the defenders of truth and justice.
The Raven's Shadow: This secretive legion operates under the cover of darkness, using stealth and cunning to outwit their enemies.
The Dragon's Fang: The Dragon's Fang is a legion of knights renowned for their bravery and fearlessness.
The Obsidian Order: Known for their impenetrable defense and rigid discipline, this legion of knights is as hard and unyielding as the obsidian they wear.
The Stormriders: The Stormriders are a legion of knights known for their swift and powerful attacks.
And those were only what he thought of until now. Every knight legion would perform different tasks for example The Stormriders Knight Order would traverse the seas and be the kingdoms navy, The Ravens Claw Knight Order would be a secret order in charge of intel and espionage, The Dawnbringer Knight Order would uphold justice and protect the people in the kingdom, from internal threats. And the Dragon Fang Knight Order would be the main stay of the army and backbone of the kingdom. Different orders and duties.
Just thinking of the idea of the orders made Ethan's eyes sparkle. And of course, one is not a knight without a proper mount. But that was for the future. The tamers would oversee breeding the livestock and expanding the kingdoms animals.
So, seeing this amount of money in his possession after using nearly 20000 gold in the past 6 months left him confused, as he was finished with cultivating, he called a meeting for the kingdoms' higher ups to gather.
< Throne room >
An Ethan listened to the military reports from Asher he was shocked and rightly so. As Ethan wouldn't have imagined that his kingdom's strength would have such a major change. In his absence Asher advance from stage 5 all the way to the peak of apprentice knight- 10th –Stage Apprentice Knight, there are one other knight in the 8th –Stage and five above the 5th –Stage as well as four newly advanced, his army expanded to over 500 Trainees.
He was shocked because one of the apprentice knights was about to reach the 8th –Stage and then he would be able to advance to the next level according to the world's law.
Parallel to the manpower, the kingdom's arsenal had also grown exponentially. The blacksmiths that the kingdom painstakingly trained worked tirelessly, forging weapons of superior quality thanks to their superior techniques from the system. The kingdom's archers were now armed with longbows of Yew, capable of piercing the toughest armor from a great distance. Seeing as the military was increasing steadily, he said to Asher and the remaining soldiers in the room.
"Uncle seeing as the military has improved but this much it is time, we remodel the military system and I believe establishing knight orders would be most effective way of utilizing our strength." he said, looking over the confused soldiers. "And what does your Majesty suggest?" Asher asked tentatively.
"Seeing as we have will have 3 Knights above the 8th –Stage as soon as General Rowan advances. You will be my generals and as we are remodeling our system, I shall now call you upon your rank. Uncle Asher will be the Knight Commander of my army and below him the other 2 generals are Magnus and Rowan, known as Knight Captains. Every apprentice knight above the 5th –Stage will be known as Knight Lieutenant and everyone under the 5th-Stage but in the apprentice, realm would be known as Knights."
"Late-stage Trainees will be known as Seargent's, Middle-stage trainees will be Corporals, Early-stage trainees will be men-at-arms. People willing to join the military and haven't started training will be known as Levis. As our strength increases adjustments must be made to the system. "
Asher and the people stood flabbergasted at the thought of the meticulously created system and how amazing the young king was to come up with such a system. During the 6 months of growth, they started to respect the king more and more as the kingdom was growing and revered him as someone blessed by fortune. They praised him and his wisdom. Ethan blushed as he heard their praises thinking thank God for the kingdoms in my past life otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to come up with any of such ideas.